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Show Park Record Thursday, January 14, 1988 Page A9 mm San Francisco flavor comes to Park City - ZM' by HEIDI WEST T Record staff writer It's a piece of San Francisco right here in river city. Salamagundi's opened its fifth and only non-San Francisco restaurant in Park City this winter, and with it came a little of the chic only the Bay Area can create. Bright aquamarine green booths, pastel salmon walls and marbleized pillars beckon. A high ceiling topped with a multi-pane skylight, a wall of windows and dozens of fluorishing plants create a typically west coast open, airy feel. Immediately, for the California-native likes of me, it is another world and yet a bit of home. The elegant styling screams "quiche" and "gourmet" and "have a glass of wine with lunch." Charbroiled steaks, fresh fish, three home-made soups daily, 64 kinds of salads including made-to-order Ceasar and scrumptous desserts are just some of the fare Salamagundi's offers. Gad! It's so overwhelmingly normal, so civilized..' civiliz-ed..' V: So, why is a small but admittedly quite chic little town like our own the recipient of one of an all-; California-until-now chain of restaurants? Well, according to general manager Alan Mitchell, it has to do with John Russell, the owner of the Park Meadows building where Salamagundi's is located. Russell is based in San Francisco, Fran-cisco, but spends much of his time in Park City, says Mitchell. And, more importantly for this story, he is friends with Salamagundi parent company owner, Jim Sochin. The two struck a partnership deal whereby Salamagundi would take care of restaurant management if Russell would offer his building for its use. Although business is a little slower than Mitchell would like, based on the four other Salamagundi's it will soon be very much a success. If so, the chain n V JL I, ' 4X n Vv Mir ." W. " " 7 - , -Ml : ' if..tUoriiy The interior of Salamagundi's has a California flavor Heidi West Salamagundi's began with and is known for in some circles. It's parent company, Standard Soup Co. has recipes for 48 original soups and chili. There are four french onion, a vegetable, a cream and a broth or chili "on the burner every day." And, simply by ordering a bowl, customers can return for a free ladle full of either the same or any other kind (except french onion). Salamangundi's staff also roast and carve their own hams, roast beefs and turkeys for sandwiches and salads, they grind their own Italian and French roast coffees and they prepare all those luscious desserts on the premises. The desserts are something Mitchell Mit-chell adds a few extra words about. It's no wonder, since they are quite exceptional. "We make one of the biggest apple pies in the business," he grins, "like the kind mama used location, says Mitchell. Salamagundi's is located across from Pizza Hut on Reams Blvd. in an area the company expects to be the target of most of Park City's future commercial growth. But, despite an aggressive advertising campaign, complete with gift certificates, cer-tificates, local lunch cards, menus distributed all over town and a grand opening half-price day, Mitchell Mit-chell says they are only doing about half the number of lunches they predict are reasonable. Nonetheless, he says they plan to keep their present hours, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., throughout the year to serve the local population. If people would just give Salamangundi's a try, Mitchell says they would keep coming back. "We're getting very very good reviews on it," he says. In fact, he's so confident, he feels comfortable comfor-table in saying, "come try us and leave the rest to me. Once you do, you'll know what good quality food is all about." Update Park CUy Area ChamberBureau Film Festival tidbits T r , ' - - 1 !" -"""f i . .. i i " f 1 r ii' mtgj. r twu,!. F "' ?- " "-' f i A I nas targeted Salt Lake City and eventually Seattle for its next two additions. The restaurant owes its success to its philosophy "quality food at a decent price," says Mitchell. He has been in the restaurant business for 20 years in a variety of capacities including manager and owner, but Salamagundi's commitment commit-ment to quality is something he hasn't experienced with such force before. "It's the thing I'm most impressed im-pressed with," he says. It's the first company I've worked for that is totally first class." The restaurant bakes all its own buns, breads and desserts. It hauls in chuck and grinds it into burgers on the premises. The soup chef, who spent a month in training in California for the position, begins at 6 a.m. to cook the three soups of the day. All meat and vegetables in those soups billed gourmet by the chain are fresh from Salt Lake, and "thick and hearty enough to use a fork." The soups are something Heidi West to bake." Each pie hold two-and-a-half pounds of fresh sliced apples. Chocolate is purchased in 50-pound blocks, and is used to create chocolate rasberry torte, chocolate chunk cookies, chocolate mousse and brownies. There is strawberry cake, pecan pie and the recently created deep-dish desserts. "We make so many different desserts it amazes me," says Mitchell. Mit-chell. Salamagundi's is open for breakfast as well, and offers the usual eggs, meat, fresh fruits and hot and cold cereals in addition to the more unusual gravy and biscuits and baked cinnamon rolls. On the price end of the formula for success, Mitchell says an average breakfast will run $3.50, . lunch $4.50 and dinner $6.00. Everything is a la carte, so the customers gets only what they want nothing more, nothing less, he adds. The slower-than-expec.ted business is primarily a function of by NANCY VOLMER Park City Chamber Bureau Ten years ago a star was born. At the time, most people didn't realize it was a star, but many saw potential. poten-tial. Two years of this potential was groomed in Salt Lake City, the re-,, maining eight years have been in Park City four with the added leadership of the Sundance Institute. The 'star' I'm referring to is the United States Film Festival one of Park City's brightest. The film festival begins its 10th season this week and again producers, pro-ducers, directors, actors, actresses and more importantly movie-goers will flock to Park City to take part in the festival. Questions often arise about the film festival and the event's association associa-tion with Park City. Questions such as: Why is the event held in Park City? Ci-ty? Does Park City want the event? Why is the event held in January? etc., etc., etc. In the early 1980's, at the suggestion sugges-tion of film director Sydney Pollack and United States Film Festival board member Diana Lady Dougan, the festival began looking at Park City as a place to relocate festival activities. Pollack felt the small resort community had a nice ambience am-bience and friendliness. Why January? It's simple, no conflicts. con-flicts. January is the only month that film-related events, such as the Academy Awards, aren't planned. And scheduling the event in January helps Park City because participants par-ticipants ski when they're not in the theater. Park City also benefits from the national exposure the film festival receives in markets we typically do not reach, such as the film community. com-munity. Last year countless articles were written about the film festival, most beginning with a Park City dateline. The articles came not only from national publications but international inter-national as well. Another benefit to the Park City community comes from the people who visit our fair town, people who otherwise might not come, and people peo-ple who tell their friends what a great place Park City is to be and ski who could resist? These people (28,700 estimated in 1987) spend money in town. Estimates from last year's film festival show between $1.65 million and $2 million were spent in the community com-munity by film-goers. Ticket sales for 1988 are already up from last year and according to estimates from the film festival office, 30-35,000 film-goers are expected to attend this year. Happy viewing! ' '""'' I y "'- 1 -' V 1 1 wtJ " I - - i Leslie Rudd, ZCMI's Personal Shopper and Joyce (iortk r. Fashion Consultant invite you to take advantage of the convenience Personal Shopper Plus has to offer, free of charge. Ms. Rudd will shop our store for you until she finds the perfect selections in the price range you desire. Then you'll comfortably review her choices in a relaxed setting while making your purchasing decisions with no obligation to buy. Need beauty or wardrobe advice? Then Ms. Gorder can help! As ZCMI's fashion consultant, she can provide you with a complete personal analysis, free of charge. Your appointment for these services are just a phone call away at 321-6793, between ten and five weekdays, in any Salt Lake area ZCMI. -. i IT " ' V 1 Li ' j Leslie Rudd ZCMI's Personal Shopper Joyce Gorder BeautyFashion Consultant xil Jupiter Peek 10,000 feet Tom Peek 6 feet 1 Deer Valley & Park City Foreclosures $135,000 and up. Historical District Renovation Projects starting at $52,500. with 2 feet planted firmly in Park City and Deer Valley Real Estate Expect the best" 649-4400 649-0259 (home) 1750 Park Ave. "I have the prettiest mom at school." f,i, .? f j J 1 h- r. 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